South Africa Frees 4 And Then Bans Them

November 14, 1985|By Nathaniel Sheppard Jr., Chicago Tribune.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — The government has released the last four whites it had detained under a state of emergency in July but placed them under restrictions that critics call ``banning through the back door.``

An Asian who was a regional president of the antiapartheid United Democratic Front (UDF), Rashid Salojee, also was released and placed under similar restrictions.

In a related development, 14 people recently released from detention alleged in court papers that they and other detainees were subjected to torture, including electrical shock, beatings, suffocation and forced excercise.

The four newly freed whites are Simon Ratliffe; Auret vanHeerden; Morris Smithers; and Neil Coleman, whose parents, Audrey and Max Coleman, are members of the Detainees Parents Support Committee (DPSC).

They and Salojee face no charges. The restrictions imposed on the five appeared to represent a new government tactic for suppressing dissent. They are forbidden to join trade unions or student or other activist organizations; to write for or prepare any publication, or to enter any school.

They also must stay clear of meetings at which government policies are criticized or where black local affairs or officials are discussed. Their movements are confined to the Johannesburg area.

They may not enter buildings that house major agencies engaged in social- reform efforts, such as the offices of UDF, Black Sash, DPSC and several social-research and church organizations.

A government spokesman acknowledged that this was the first time that persons released from emergency detention had been so restricted; he offered no explanation for it.

Max Coleman, a physician, described the government actions as ``banning through the back door.`` Banning is a South African policy that, among other things, restricts persons` movements and meetings and forbids their being quoted in the press.

Sheena Duncan, president of the Black Sash, a predominantly white women`s antiapartheid organization, said the action was ``another kind of arbitrary punishment without trial.``

Helen Suzman, the law-and-order spokesman for the opposition Progressive Federal Party, said the restrictions indicate ``a pretty sinister trend. The line between subversion and lawful protest seems to be becoming thinner in this country.``

In the court action, 14 former detainees sought a restraining order against police and security officials who they said used the state of emergency as a cover for assaults and other abuse of government critics.

Doris Ndoki Masenya said she was injected with a substance that made her dizzy and was then subjected to extremely painful electrical shock.

Patience Murabhe, released after two weeks` detention, was treated for thrombosis in the vein of her left leg. She said she had been forced to carry heavy objects during her interrogation and also suffered electrical shocks.

Soviet Mazibuko said his head was pushed into a pail of water into which tear gas had been injected.

Such allegations are common among persons released from political detention, according to the DPSC, which keeps files on such matters.

The government has promised to act in matters of detention abuse but so far has not disciplined any police for wrongdoing.